Review: Calvary’ a satisfying drama

Friday

Aug 8, 2014 at 2:01 AM

By Ed SymkusMore Content Now

A few years ago, the Irish actor Brendan Gleeson found himself with a plum role as one of two hitmen (the other was Colin Farrell) in the dark comedy “In Bruges,” which was written and directed by then-first-timer Martin McDonagh. McDonagh went on to write and direct the even darker comedy “Seven Psychopaths,” taking Farrell with him. Oddly, Gleeson went on to work with McDonagh’s brother John, on his first film, the comic thriller “The Guard.” Now Gleeson is starring (without Farrell), in John’s second film, a drama with very little comedy, “Calvary.”Gleeson plays Father James, a priest in a small Irish town who, during an uncomfortable opening scene confession, is told by a parishioner that because he was long ago a victim of a pedophile priest, he’s going to take out his pent-up frustrations on Father James. That, in fact, he’s going to kill him … next Sunday ... on the beach.What gets this film cooking from the start is that although it’s obvious that the priest knows who the man is, audiences only get to hear the man’s voice, as the camera stays trained, in close-up, on Father James.What’s a good priest to do? Just go on being a good priest, trying his best to take care of his flock. Father James is living with a difficult past. He was married and widowed before joining the priesthood, and his unhappy, foulmouthed, adult daughter Fiona (Kelly Reilly), fresh from a failed suicide attempt, is coming for a visit. They’re not exactly estranged, but they haven’t seen each other for a while.That’s OK. Father James has been busy. He’s been dealing with Jack and Veronica (Chris O’Dowd and Orla O’Rourke), and wondering if Jack has been hitting her again. It would be odd if he was, since Jack doesn’t seem to mind that Veronica is quite blatantly having an affair with Simon (Isaach De Bankolé). Simon, for the record, is equally blatant about his dislike for Father James. The priest is also dealing with his wealthy braggart of a neighbor Michael (Dylan Moran).Hold on, let’s not forget about Father James’ distant visits — he can only get there by boat — to an elderly writer (M. Emmet Walsh) who might be thinking about suicide, since he asks the priest if he can get him a Walther PPK (James Bond’s pistol of choice). And then there’s the priest’s extremely amoral friend Frank (Aiden Gillen, who “Game of Thrones” fans know as Littlefinger), who is also the town doctor.Not enough? OK, there are the priest’s visits to a nearby prison, where he talks with the serial killer Freddie (Gleeson’s real-life son Domhnall), a former student of his who’s accused of murdering a young woman, then eating her. Heck of a town, don’t you think? Plenty of sinners. The priest’s faith is regularly being tested by people whose faiths are regularly being tested, although it appears that some of them don’t really give a damn about their behavior. The one thing pretty much all of the townsfolk have in common is that they want a piece of Father James; they want to talk with him about everything from sexual problems to financial matters. Gleeson give us a complicated portrait of a priest who tries to remain the good man he knows he is, but ends up ranging from being concerned with people to being annoyed by them.There’s so much going on here, so many different situations to deal with, it’s very easy to forget about the opening scene and the death threat. But writer-director McDonagh likely doesn’t want us to forget, as he regularly has the name of the day flash across the screen: MONDAY, THURSDAY, as the story gets closer to SUNDAY, and the promised event on the beach. In some ways that “ticking clock” effect is distracting; in others it builds the tension.Fortunately this isn’t all an exercise in doom and gloom. There are a couple of long peaceful walks and talks between Father James and his daughter, during which revelations about each of them are traded back and forth; there’s some light comic, if unnerving delivery of dialogue from both O’Dowd’s Jack and Gillen’s Frank; and it’s always a treat to see and listen to M. Emmet Walsh, whose voice and visage continue to grow craggier.Then Sunday arrives, as does a meet-up on a beach, along with an unsettling ending that will leave viewers with questions about what could have/should have happened. Fortunately, those final scenes are more satisfying, dramatically, than they sound.CALVARYWritten and directed by John Michael McDonaghWith Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aiden GillenRated R—— Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now.